William R. Conners to Charles W. Chesnutt, 19 November 1921
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The Negro Welfare Association1
OF CLEVELAND, OHIO (INC.)
AFFILIATED WITH THE NATIONAL LEAGUE ON URBAN CONDITION AMONG NEGROES
2407 EAST 40th STREET
BELL. ROSEDALE 6313
WILLIAM R. CONNERS, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY2
November 19th, 1921.
Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt
1105 Williamson Building
Cleveland, Ohio.
My dear Mr. Chesnutt:
There will be an adjourned meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Negro Welfare Association in the Board Room of the Y. M. C. A., Prospect Avenue, corner of 22nd Street, Tuesday afternoon, November 22nd at Four o'clock.3
This meeting is of vital importance and it is earnestly hoped that you will arrange to attend.
Sincerely yours, William R. Conners William R. Conners, Executive Secretary. WRC-TS. O.K !Correspondent: William Randall Conners (1878–1942) was a Black activist and organizer, born in Georgia. He graduated from historically Black Biddle College (now Johnson C. Smith University) in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a B.A. (1897) and an M.A. (1903), followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. After stints as a college instructor and principal in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, he came to Cleveland in 1917. He founded Cleveland's Negro Welfare Association, forerunner of Cleveland's Urban League, and was its executive secretary (1917–1940). He also founded the Lower Woodland Community Council to work with Black leaders in the Woodland district of Cleveland.
1. The Negro Welfare Association (renamed the Urban League of Cleveland in 1940) was founded in 1917 by William Randall Conners (1878–1942) as an interracial organization to help find employment for newly arriving Black workers during the Great Migration and overcome work discrimination, but also sought to improve housing, sanitation, and education for the growing Black community of Cleveland. It was instrumental in founding the Cedar Ave. Branch of the Cleveland YMCA in 1922, the only YMCA branch open to Black men at the time, and was affiliated with the National Urban League (a major service organization to support the Black community, founded in 1910). Chesnutt served on the Association's Board of Trustees for many years and praised it for its "very useful service in opening up new fields of employment for Negroes... and other welfare activities" in "The Negro in Cleveland". [back]
2. For readability, the remainder of the Negro Welfare Association letterhead is not transcribed in the body of the letter but is included in this footnote as unformatted text. The letterhead can be seen in its entirety in the accompanying image of the letter. The text of the remainder of the letterhead is as follows: "A. H. Martin, President Miss Hazel E. Mountain, Secretary Trustees Rev. F. Q. Blanchard, Chairman Dr. J. D. Williamson Charles W. Chestnutt Sherman C. Kingsley P. W. Lemon Major W. T. Anderson Rev. Dr. P. O'Connell Russell W. Jelliffe Dr. O. A. Taylor, Vice President. R. J. Frackelton, Treasurer Trustees Bradley Hull Paul L. Feiss A. H. Martin W. J. Hart Miss Hazel E. Mountain R. J. Fishback R. J. Frackelton Dudley S. Blossom Welcome T. Blue" [back]
3. The Cleveland YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) was founded in 1854 and significantly expanded its operations around the turn of the century. The YMCA at Prospect Ave. and 22nd St. (2200 Prospect Ave.), built in 1912, served at the organization's headquarters until the 1990s. The YMCA did not admit members of color at the time and was often critized by Black leaders for this. In 1922, the YMCA's Cedar Branch at Cedar Ave and 77th St. was founded to serve the Black community, especially Black boys, by civic leaders who were also members of the Negro Welfare Association, most notably Alexander H. Martin (1872–1962), the Association's president in 1921. As Chesnutt noted in 1930 "The Negro in Cleveland," the Cedar Ave. Branch continued to be the only YMCA branch to admit Black members in the 1930s, although Black students were accepted by the YMCA's School of Technology (then just renamed Fenn College, predecessor of Cleveland State University). [back]
